


Dusts imagination

by Nestle25



Series: You'll be okay [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Dust is sassy, Everyone is scared of the murderous skeleton, Nightmare is frustrated, This man is a neat freak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:47:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28457046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nestle25/pseuds/Nestle25
Summary: He was going insane if he wasn't insane already. Having killed everyone he knew and loved Sans was all alone, with the exception of "Papyrus" following him around and encouraging him to kill anything that moves. Until this odd skeleton comes into the mix wanting to "help", will he take it, or will this skeleton just become another victim?
Series: You'll be okay [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2027971
Comments: 71
Kudos: 33





	1. To kill or not to kill

**Author's Note:**

> Yay, I got the second part done! Hopefully, it's good!

Sans walked around Hotland, dust covering the floor wherever he went. The screams of monsters that were once his friends now clouded his mind. ‘Papyrus’ followed him in his ghostly silhouette encouraging him to find more monsters to kill. 

“Bro I think I got everyone here.”

‘Pathetic brother, you are not strong enough to fight the human. You probably never will be.’ Sans turned to his floating brother.

“Bro don’t say that! I can beat the human, I swear it.I already defeated them!” The whole walk back to their home was filled with screams and the constant nagging of ‘Papyrus’. It was lonely without his brother by his side, Sans had killed everyone. He had to get stronger, he needed more power, he needed more love. 

They drove him crazy. How many times did he watch his brother get murdered again? A hundred? Maybe a million times. However many it didn’t matter anymore, he finally took control, he was in charge now. But at what cost? Everyone he tried to protect was gone now and by the hands of him. He opened the door to his house and stepped away from the outside, he sat down and stared at the ceiling. 

What else could he do? There was nothing else for him here. ‘Brother why are you sulking around?’

“I’m just tired Bro.”

‘Why? You’ve done absolutely nothing!’ Sans ignored ‘papyrus’ and stared back at the ceiling again.

‘Well it seems I am not needed anymore, I guess I’ll just take my leave.’ Sans shot up and turned to his brother with tears in his eyes. “Bro please don’t go. I need you here.”

‘Papyrus’ smiled and disappeared, Sans looked around and screamed his brother's name. With no answer he summoned blasters and bones, he shot everywhere and at everything. 

Papyrus. Papyrus. Papyrus. Papyrus. Papyrus. Papyrus. 

His name kept circling in his mind, he slashed his couch with a sharp bone and pierced the wall a couple of times before shooting a blaster at the wall creating a giant hole. He fell to his knees and curled into a ball laughing.

“I need more love…”

“Papyrus I love you, I’ll always be here Bro I promise.”

His laughing became more insane, he was losing himself, if he wasn’t lost already. He got up and walked to his old sentry station.

“Hey bro I’m gonna check your puzzles for you.” He made sure to add spikes to each one just in case if the human comes back, he wondered why they didn’t reset already. He decided he would go visit them. He walked into the woods and saw black covering burned trees, he stopped seeing the human . They had bones coming out of almost every part of their body.

“When are you going to come back?”

Their body was destroyed, their body almost seemed hollow as the fearful face remained. He remembered the first time they came to see the gruesome sight of Sans killing his brother, they tried to run but their legs refused to move. They were glued to the snow by fear, all they could do was watch helplessly as Sans acted out his revenge on them for their sinful deeds. Sans smiled the whole time thinking about it, he hoped they would wake up so he could do it again.

“I don’t think they can answer at the moment.” Sans turned around and saw a skeleton monster, they had black covering their whole body. He stared wide-eyed at the figure, this wasn’t real. ‘Papyrus’ excitedly pointed at the ominous skeleton ‘Oh brother he has a lot of love I can tell! Go kill him for me!’ Sans spared no time, he summoned a blaster and shot directly at the skeleton. He got out of the way and stared at the murderous monster.

“I’m not here to hurt you.” He could hear him? No, there was just Papyrus, he made sure of it.. How was there another monster here, a skeleton monster at that?

“GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!!” He threw a bunch of bones furiously at the skeleton who stepped out of the way, Sans realized his head was playing tricks on him, bringing another imaginary monster.

“You’re not real! Get out!” ‘Papyrus’ started chanting the words ‘more love’. It drove Sans mad, he got a bone in his hand and ran up to the skeleton. He threw it forward only for him to miss once again. As he got closer the other monster could hear his rapid breathing, he was hyperventilating.

“I can assure you I am real.” He grabbed Sans hand and squeezed it. All the blasters and bones instantly disappeared. Sans squeezed back and looked up to the skeleton.

‘Sans now's your chance.’ A bone went straight for the monster's face but he teleported away, he was right behind Sans now who wasn’t prepared to get wrapped in tentacles.

“Relax Sans, relax.”

“How do you know my name? You are in my head.” He was struggling against the tentacle and tried to bite them. Nightmare sighed, he really didn’t like how this was panning out. He didn’t want to hurt him but boy was he violent.

“For the last time, I am not in your head.” The skeleton put Sans down and let him breathe, ‘Papyrus told him that he was pathetic once again.

“No bro don’t say that, I’m not pathetic. He can just dodge well.” Sans started to cry and scream his brother's name, he hit the floor as hard as he could. The other monster wrapped him up with his tentacles affectionately while also keeping his distance.

“It's alright I’m here.” Sans was fighting himself to not reciprocate but he had never felt comfort in a long time. He hugged back and asked if this was just a dream.

“It's alright Sans, my name is Nightmare.” He looked up to the skeleton. What kind of name is that? He didn’t question it but instead held his hand out. They shook hands.

Sans stayed silent, he didn’t even know what to say. Nightmare walked closer, grabbed his hand and helped him stand up, felt hesitant to just leave him here. He was only there to get a daily dose of negativity. He was now thinking of helping instead, the world was pretty much destroyed anyways.

“It seems like no one else is here, it must get pretty lonely huh?” Sans still stayed quiet just eyeing Nightmare intensely. 

“Alright… How do you feel about leaving this place? Somewhere better perhaps?” Sans wanted to laugh, there was no way he could just leave. Though he did put a giant hole in his house…

All Sans did was shrug, he has nowhere else to go anyway. He assumed this weird skeleton would probably kill him if he said no, he most likely didn’t have a choice. Nightmare got worried reading his negative thoughts, he didn’t want to just kidnap him but he shouldn’t be in a place like this. Sans looked away from Nightmare and held his hand out, ready to just leave already. Why was he taking so long? He looked back up to Nightmare for a split second before he spoke.

“...You said we’d leave…”

“I feel like you don’t want to,” Nightmare simply said as looked up in confusion. He actually wanted his permission? He wasn’t just getting taken to wherever he wanted to go? He was worried for a moment, not knowing what this dark skeleton's intentions were. All Nightmare did was stand there awkwardly so Sans knew he wouldn’t be forced into anything, though sitting would’ve been much more preferable. 

“What are you going to do to me?” Nightmare didn’t really have a motive behind it but he tried to think of some excuse.

“If I’ll be honest, I just want to help.” Nightmare answered truthfully as Sans read him. He still was skeptical, he could be lying and he would lose his chance to get more love. 

“What else?”

“..I have nothing else Sans, I don’t have any bad intentions, I'm being honest with you.” Sans snarled and summoned a bone, he shot it at Nightmare who wasn’t as prepared this time. It grazed his shoulder and tore his jacket, he winced in shock and prepared to hold him down once again. 

“Bullshit, you’re hiding something from me and I know it.” Sans ran to Nightmare and he teleported away, he tried to hold Sans down who slashed one of his tentacles. He smiled seeing Nightmare bite back a cry as he yanked it back, he held his hands up.

“Please just listen to me, I have no reason to hurt you. If I wanted to hurt you I would have done so already, but I don’t want to do that.” Nightmare desperately said as he tried to be as non-threatening as he could be. Sans sighed, he was really starting to have fun terrorizing the goopy monster. He let his bone disappear and gave Nightmare a moment to look at him.

“I killed everyone here… I can do the same to you… be grateful that I haven’t killed you yet.” The word yet made Nightmare a bit nervous but he quickly allowed his aurora to take charge. The air was heavy and Sans almost felt the air suffocating him, he glared at Nightmare who collected himself and towered over Sans. 

“I can do the same to you as well Sans, but I don’t want to do that” Nightmare retorted as threateningly as he could. He held out his hand to Sans and hoped he would agree to go with him already.

“I promise I have no bad intent, you can trust me.”

“...Yeah we’ll see.”

And with a connection of hands, they were gone.


	2. Dinner time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans meets the gang and things don't go well...

They teleported to Nightmares office, no one came in without his permission. He pulled out a chair and had Sans sit down, he went to the opposite end where another chair was and sat. They were separated by a large desk, there were a lot of papers on the desk and Sans can tell he was unorganized. He wondered what Nightmare did as the papers seemed important. He looked around and saw how much dust built up on nearby shelves and file cabinets, did this guy even know how to clean? He actually looked embarrassed to be caught with such a dirty space and quickly apologized to Sans as he started to clean.

“I apologize for the mess, I haven’t had much time to clean the place.” He grabbed a couple of papers and put them on the floor. He really wished he had more time to actually clean the place, it would make him feel a lot better. Sans said nothing and played with his jacket, was he even paying attention? Nightmare asked him if he had anything to say, he got no response. ‘Maybe this was a bad idea’ Nightmare thought to himself. An idea popped into his head but he quickly realized Sans was a killing machine and would attack anyone on sight. He was desperate to get Sans to open up though even if it meant drastic measures. He was concerned by how quiet Sans was but he figured it was because he was nervous or just didn't care. 

“How about I introduce you to my teammates, they are not a threat and I can assure you they are in fact real.” Sans looked up unamused, Nightmare was trying not to lose his patience. Sans shrugged and was trying to decide how he wanted to kill these newcomers, more monsters means more love and Sans had no problem with it. Nightmare really wanted to help but there was only so much he could take and Sans really wasn't helping. He hoped by having him here that the skeleton would be less likely to kill anything he sees, maybe even be a bit more social? Then again that is probably a Stretch on his part. Maybe Killer and Horror would help ease the skeleton into this new transition, he could already tell Sans was nervous given his aggressiveness. 

He opened the door and called to Killer and Horror. Sans felt himself panic for a moment but tried to keep his composure as the two skeletons slowly entered. One of them had a giant hole in his skull while the other had black running down his sockets. What in the hell happened to them? They looked even worse than Nightmare and that was saying something...

“Hey there I’m Killer nice to meet you!” The one with tear stains said, he seemed very energetic and cheerful. 

“I’m Horror, nice to meet you buddy.” Sans continued to stare absently. Killer and Horror looked at each other before turning to Nightmare. He only shrugged back in response “He doesn’t talk much.”

Sans smirked, that's exactly what he wanted. If he didn’t talk then they’d leave him alone. The trio thought of a way to make the new skeleton talk or do anything at this point. Then Horror thought of a good idea.

“Hey Sans, how about we go eat dinner? I just made a roast.” Horror offered, it had been a while since Sans had eaten a home-cooked meal. He would usually break into houses and steal whatever was left in there. He said nothing but at least looked at Horror which made him smile, it was better than nothing!

“Ooooh yeah! Horror is the best at cooking, I can never get tired of it!” Killer said happily, the smell of the roast finally reached the room as Sans’s stomach growled. Nightmare took that as a yes and led him to the dinner table. 

Killer placed a cup on each end of the table and Horror came in with the roast, Sans sat on a chair and Nightmare sat opposite to him. Killer ran back and had a huge bowl of rice. He placed it down and grabbed four plates and began giving everyone their own. Nightmare thanked Killer and Horror for the meal as Sans sat there awkwardly, he mumbled a quiet thank you. The roast looked so good and Sans didn’t realize how hungry he was until he got a smell of it. He got a good amount and fought himself to not swallow the whole thing in one go.

Everyone was now eating and talking about their day, Horror talked about how he got done visiting his AU and gave his brother some food. Sans looked at him with daggers, he had a Papyrus? How was that even possible? Horror looked so happy as he spoke, Sans felt himself get jealous hearing him talk. Then as if on cue ‘Papyrus’ was now hovering over Horror and pointed to him.

‘Brother.. You should kill him…’   
‘You don’t deserve their kindness’  
‘This is why we all died’  
‘Stop fidgeting your making a fool of yourself’

Sans shook in his seat and stared at his food, Killer seemed to notice and looked to Nightmare.

“Hey Sans are you okay?”

“Shut up..”

“What did you say?”

Sans shot a bone at Nightmare who wrapped it in a tentacle, Horror and Killer were taken back before dogging bones shot at them as well.

“I SAID SHUT UP!!”

Bones were now on rapid-fire mode as they tried to dodge them, Horror ran and grabbed his axe. Killer took out his knife and tried to block the attacks. Sans flipped the whole table over and giggled like a manic seeing their fearful expressions.

“Boss what do we do??” Killer screamed in a panic. Nightmare tried to think of something to calm him down, it seemed violence was the only thing on his mind. No meal was gonna calm this maddened skeleton down.

He wrapped all his tentacles around Sans and squeezed hard so he would stop, the bones disappeared and his breathing was quickened. He gasped for air and shook under his grip, Nightmare sighed as Killer and Horror put their weapons down.

He turned around to his gang mates and back to the bloodlust skeleton, he really didn’t know what to do at this point. He couldn’t just throw him back into his world, He would go crazy! Though from the looks of it he already was. Sans was beyond pissed at this point and wanted to see them dead. However, he couldn’t do anything with these damn tentacles wrapped around him. 

“Sans what can we do to calm you down?”

Sans looked down and away from the three, he didn’t have anything to say now. Horror went and threw away the roast on the floor and tried not to take it personally. All Killer did was ask if Nightmare was okay, he didn’t know. He just wanted to help the skele but right now he was running out of options. He didn't want to put Horror and Killer in danger, they already surrounded themselves with it enough. Desperate he turned to his teammates for help.

“Anyone have any ideas?” They thought for a moment before asking for details of his world, as Nightmare explained Horror felt a ping of guilt. He made a very bad first impression on the poor guy, he would definitely not mention his brother in the near future.

“This is my fault. I'm sorry, I had no idea what his world was like.”

Nightmare was quick to point out that he had no idea and apologized for not telling them beforehand. He really didn’t think this through but he was determined to not give up on Sans. Killer felt a light bulb turn on in his head as he spoke.

“Hey, so this guy is into killing right? Sooooo how about we go cause some mayhem?” Killer suggested, hoping he could kill someone else and not them.

“It has been a while since we’ve done a mission,” Horror added. Nightmare was a bit hesitant, not knowing if he’d turn on them but it was worth a shot.

“Alright, we’ll go to a Mobtale AU.” Nightmare turned to the skeleton who was still in the air and smiled at him. Sans was trying not to grin, he really wanted to cause some trouble. Nightmare turned to Sans who was caught smiling, oh he knew he’d be enjoying this. He was hoping this would help with that excess amount of energy and bloodlust. 

“Sans do you want to go cause some trouble? You can do whatever you want where I am going to take you... Just don’t attack me alright?” 

“...I’ll try,” Nightmare definitely did not like the sound of that but maybe Sans didn’t need to be around all this clutter. The house was an absolute mess, even without him destroying the whole dining room. 

Nightmare turned to Killer and Horror “It’s just going to be us for now just in case.” They nodded happily, they certainly didn’t want to be accidentally killed by that maniac.

"Oh and clean this mess while I'm gone," He added as the two skeletons sighed to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If they knew Horror would have said nothing and maybe Sans wouldn't have destroyed the house? No, he would have found another reason to trash the place more than it already was.  
>  RIP Horrors roast.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	3. Playtime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans has a fun time and Nightmare is concerned.

“Alright, do you have the stuff?”

“Hell yeah! Of course, I do but just to be clear. You are not a cop right?”

The man laughed at the woman with a suitcase in her hands. 

“Of course I’m not, I already paid you a lot of money for this. I don’t think a cop would go through all the trouble.”

The woman giggled and handed him the suitcase, he thanked her and walked off. As he walked down the alleyway he could swear he saw a monster with a weapon of some sort. He smirked and began to yell.

“Hey monster this is human territory, we don’t welcome your kind here!” The monster started to walk towards the man with the suitcase, he heard a woman shriek back where he was. He whipped around only to be stabbed multiple times by the monster, he got up and wiped the blood off of his face.

Nightmare walked to the skeleton on top of the man. “This isn’t like monster dust, I only liked killing the human, not the others” Sans added, Nightmare agreed and they went off to find others to kill. Sans said he preferred monsters so they went to the monster side of town.

“I’m surprised you haven’t asked about how we're in a whole new world.”

“...I already understand what the multiverse is.”  
They stopped a doggo walking the area, Sans ran and attacked. He always went for the head but if he felt bored enough he’d go for the chest. For Sans it was much more fun to see them die slow, Nightmare felt a bit disturbed seeing the gruesome sight of Sans’s kills. However, he seemed to let off steam this way so he tried to just let him run wild.

“Did you see that? The bunny monster really tried to swipe at me…” Sans cut off the bunny's hand and heard him yell in pain, he finally stabbed him in the head and felt the dust go into his hands. He stopped for a moment to take in the sight, it looked wonderful...

“Nightmare….thank you for taking me here.” Nightmare looked surprised, Sans had finally found his voice. ‘Papyrus’ was actually quiet for once which gave Sans a chance to speak for himself, he was thankful that Nightmare hadn’t killed him yet. He was even more thankful he was in a world where he had free reign. Nightmare smiled a bit and stood back, watching the skeleton fulfill his bloodlust. He was really starting to feel bad for all those monsters that Sans found as most on the street tried to run into home and buildings. He was even more surprised the humans weren’t trying to help but he figured it was because they could care less. 

“You want some water or something? You look like you’re tiring out.” Nightmare commented as Sans shook his head.

“I’ve just started,” Sans answered and he went to chase a froggit. Nightmare shrugged and watched on, he knew Sans was having the time of his life so hopefully, that makes things at home better. Suddenly there was an odd presence and Nightmare felt his tentacles curl up as he heard a familiar voice. Dammit.

“Nightmare! This ends right now!” Sans turned around to see a golden skeleton and another in brown, he turned to Nightmare who grumbled in annoyance. This was the last thing he wanted to have happen. The golden skeleton shot an arrow at the dark one who easily dodged it, the brown one looked down in disappointment at Sans.

“C’mon you know you aren't supposed to be here.” The brown one grabbed a giant brush from out of nowhere and swung at Sans. He was thrown back a few feet and felt his ‘blood’ boil, he got up and threw a blaster his way. He wasn’t expecting it and was shot, Sans smirked and ran with a bone in his hand. He tried to slash his side but was thrown back by the brush again.

“Who are you?” Sans asked angrily to the bruised skeleton.

“The name is Ink, I don’t like you all that much.” He plainly stated as he swung once again at Sans’s head, before he could strike a blow a tentacle covered Sanses head. Nightmare ran to Sans and held him as they teleported off. 

“What was that?”

“That was the Star Sanses, the bane of my existence.” Nightmare answered, Sans nodded and looked around the office. Still very messy and dirty, he was feeling irritated looking at it.

"I could've taken them," Dust said with smugness as Nightmare shook his head.

"No, they're not worth it, the golden one is my brother anyway." Nightmare said as Sans stiffened up. He really shouldn't have been surprised but other than the goop they almost looked like twins. He wanted to ask but decided he wouldn't they fought so he assumed they just didn't get along. He mess of the office was once again getting his nerves and couldn't help himself to ask again.

“I can organize things for you.” Sans offered, Nightmare said no and said it was his mess. Sans ignored him and began to clean all the papers.

“What are you doing?”

“Cleaning.”

“...oookay.” Nightmare kneeled down and helped Sans clean up the messy office. After an hour the place was neat and clean. He really couldn't believe how many things were on the floor papers, broken pens, a bunch of blueprints? There were so many random items that made Sans question what Nightmare did for a living.

“So who were you talking to when I first found you?” Sans looked down absentmindedly.

“...”

“Hello?” Nightmare felt like he was talking to himself half the time he tried to talk to Sans. As much as it was frustrating he understood he had a lot going on. Sans looked up to Nightmare with a tear threatening to fall.

“My brother..” Nightmare was taken back by the sight of him then gave a look of sympathy, he knew that Sans of course had a brother. He listened in as Sans told him his story. Sans really didn't want to talk about it but 'Papyrus' had been ignoring him after they came back, he hated when he did that.

“I wanted to protect my family and friends but the human just kept killing, they didn’t stop. So I did what I thought would stop it and that was.. Killing everyone I knew, including my brother…”

“I finally fought the human and won, they were scared to see me covered in dust and they even flinched a couple of times during the fight. Though because of what I did, they were scared to even put up a fight.”

Sans looked disappointed in himself as he continued.

“My brother follows me everywhere now, he tells me that it’s not good enough and the human will come back. I just have to keep gaining love and I’ll be fine and maybe he’ll be fine..”

Purple tears rose in the skeletons sockets as he tried to quickly rub them, Nightmare used a tentacle to wipe them for him. He didn’t like being this vulnerable but maybe this Nightmare guy wasn’t so bad. He was lonely after all, other than ‘Papyrus’ but the constant negative reinforcement drove him mad. 

“I want you to tell me when he’s talking to you okay? I can’t have you feeling like you need to be ready to kill at any moment.” Sans nodded and mustered up a smile, a genuine smile. Nightmare wished he had a camera at that moment.

“Hey guys, how did your little outing go?” Horror asked, he came in with a plate of sandwiches. 

“It was good..” Sans said as he grabbed a sandwich Horror offered. Horror tried not to squeal in excitement, finally hearing his voice. Nightmare thanked Horror for the sandwiches and Sans did the same.

“So I’m guessing Ink and Dream were there?” Horror asked, Nightmare nodded and pointed to Sans.

“He is pretty strong, you should have seen him.” Nightmare boasted, Sans felt weird getting praise from someone he barely knew. 

“It was nothing..” Sans said back with some confidence.

“Heh, I won’t believe it until I see it for myself.” Horror jokingly said.

“Those guys were there when I first fought too, they don’t believe in murder so they won’t actually do anything to you trust me. They’re more like…” Horror stopped trying to think of a word.

“Softies..” Sans replied as Horror nodded.

“Exactly, total softies I mean don’t get me wrong they know how to fight but they won’t go all the way if you know what I mean.” That was obvious to Sans as when they fought though Ink did get him he still hesitated to actually harm him. That only meant that Sans could keep going without any mercy and that excited him. It was even better when they fought back trying to fight the inevitable. Sans was now focusing back on killing all those monsters, he didn’t like killing humans other than the one in his world.

“But I’m also here to say I’m sorry for mentioning my brother.” Sans looked at Horror who showed genuine remorse.

“Why do you care..?”

“Because you didn’t need to hear that. I had no idea about your past and I understand bothers can be a sore topic to some.” Horror said back. Sans shrugged and told him not to worry about it. They both dropped it, not wanting to continue a forced and awkward conversation.   
“Well, Sans let me show you to your room and well get it set up.” They left the study and went to a hallway with multiple doors. They went to the one on the end on the left.

“Alright Sans this is your room, we’ll get some things to decorate it.”

The walls were dark green and there was a dresser, the bed had dark blue sheets. Nightmare left, finally leaving Sans by himself for once. He laid on the bed and thought about how his whole day had gone. He never would’ve thought this was how his day was going to go.

‘Brother, why didn’t you listen to me?’

“...”

‘Are you ignoring me again?’  
‘So disrespectful..’  
‘You know they will just get rid of you eventually’  
‘Brother.. You can’t avoid me forever..’  
‘You did this to me..’

Sans closed his eyes and covered his face with the blanket. He just wanted to stop hearing things for once, it hurt seeing him all the time.

Back in the kitchen, the three skeletons were talking about their new housemate.

“I think he just likes to kill.”

“No there has to be something else the guy likes, I refuse to believe killing is all he does,” Killer said to Horror, Nightmare listen to both of the skeletons bickerings.

“How about tomorrow we just ask him what he likes?” Nightmare suggested.

“If he can even say what he likes.” Horror said, pointing out that Sans only said a few words at a time.

“Maybe he’s just more of an action than words kinda guy,” Killer said.

“Maybe you two can introduce him to things around the house? Maybe try to spend time with him?” Nightmare asked.

“Oh yeah maybe he’s just shy and needs to come out of his shell a little bit,” Killer said hoping that was the case, Horror agreed and they all went to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Nightmare really wants to enforce some bonding between the three of them so Sans doesn't have to talk to 'Papyrus' all the time.


	4. Family bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Killer and Horror are scared of their new murder happy brother...

There was a knock on Sans door, he went to go open it to see Killer standing there. 

“Hello..” Sans said closing the door a bit, Killer smiled and told him breakfast was ready. They sat down and Horror came out with omelets, thanking him Sans began to eat. 

“Hey Sans so how about you tell us what you like? We’ll make this a you day.” Killer said to Sans as he shrugged.

“I don’t really do a whole lot other than walk around..”

“Oh so how do you feel about hiking?” Horror asked.

“If there are monsters up there sure..” He answered, Killer tried to think of something with the piece of information. Just then an idea popped into his head.

“We should go hiking like Horror said,” Sans asked if there would be monsters there to which Killer shook his head. Sans said he didn’t want to go then and opted to stay inside. For a moment the two gave up and went to go figure something out as they finished their food.

“Here I’ll do it..” Sans held his hand out to take the dishes from Horror, he instantly said no and to not worry about it. He insisted and took the plates From Horror and went to go wash the dishes.

“Does he like cleaning..?” Killer whispered to Horror who shrugged unsurely. After he finished the dishes he looked around and saw the living room was pretty messy, he turned to Killer and asked where the cleaning supplies were. He went and grabbed some wipes for Sans who looked a bit annoyed. 

“You have no cleaning supplies?”

“Uh.. I mean we are usually out and about so we are rarely home..” Killer said to Sans who took them and began wiping the dining table. 

“Do you have a broom?” Killer shook his head.

“A mop?” Killer shook his head once again.

“A duster??” Killer nervously shook his head again and Sans face palmed himself.

“Do you have anything?” Killer looked at Horror who shook his head, Sans sighed and went to Nightmares office.

“I’m going to get cleaning supplies.” Nightmare looked up seeing Sans annoyed, he asked what was wrong.

“It’s filthy and we have nothing to clean with other than wipes..” Nightmare got up and told him it was fine but he would be accompanying him.

“I don’t want you going alone so I’ll go with you and who knows, maybe you can teach me a thing or two.” Sans shrugged as the two teleported off.

They went to a small store in an Underswap AU that was on the surface. Looking through the store Nightmare saw none recognized him he guessed no one in this world knew of the multiverse. It was a relief for him as they wandered the store, they went to the cleaning section where Sans grabbed a broom, mop, dustpan, spray bottles, and gloves. Sans was happy seeing the sanitary products already knowing these people needed them. He wondered if any of them knew how to actually clean or not. Then again they all did seem pretty lazy so he'd have to whip them into shape.

“These will come in handy..” Sans said as he held all the items in his hands, Nightmare offered to help but was declined by Sans who was ready to go back. They just teleported back and he put everything down.

“We didn’t pay..”

“Oh, yeah did you want to go back I can go and pay if you want-”

“Don’t worry I just said it out loud..” Sans got to cleaning and organized everything while Nightmare helped and was given some tips from Sans on how to keep everything clean. After moving to every area in the house the whole place was clean in three hours, Nightmare wondered how the skeleton was able to keep up the pace with cleaning. He had made sure everything was spotless and double-checked everything which made the cleaning way longer. He didn't know how Sans did it but was really happy that Sans was smiling at his work.

“Who taught you how to clean like this because I’m impressed.” Nightmare said to the skeleton who was taking off his now dirty gloves.

“Papyrus wouldn’t want to see a mess so I just started cleaning everything for him..” Nightmare nodded in acknowledgment.

Killer and Horror watched the two clean the whole place, they looked in amazement at the floor.  
“I didn’t know the floor was bright brown..” Horror said as Killer looked at the drawers.

“Wow, I didn’t know there was so much dust..” Killer said. He turned around to Sans who was happy with what he did to the place. 

“That's much better..” Sans said as he put away the rest of the cleaning supplies.

“You guys don’t need to worry about cleaning anymore..” Sans said as dust from his jacket sprinkled onto the floor. He looked at the floor annoyed and went back to grab the dustpan.

“It's alright Dusty,” Killer joked. Sans turned to him and smiled, which made Killer nervous for a moment before Sans started laughing.

“What did I say??”

“Dusty… I like that.. Well maybe not dusty but dust.” Killer was confused and looked at the other two skeletons who were confused.

“Dust as in a nickname?” Horror asked as Sans nodded enthusiastically.

“Dust is a perfect name, I love looking at and feeling dust…” Sans said, looking to Nightmare who nodded.

“If you want to be called Dust I have no problem with it, in fact, I agree that it’s a perfect name for you.”

“I think psycho is a better name,” Killer said as Dust shot him a dirty look.

“B-But of course whatever Dust wants Dust gets!”

He smirked at Killer and patted him on the shoulder before going to his room to relax. Killer rubbed his shoulder and looked to Horror.

“Have I felt the hand of death or something because that was fucking scary.” Killer said, Horror chuckled at him.

“The guys a wild card but I like him, he just needs some reassurance and to learn how to not kill every monster he sees.” Horror said to Killer who went to his room.

“It's funny how the guy likes dust yet he takes filth.” Horror said as he walked away, Nightmare shrugged and went back to his now clean office to do paperwork. He was definitely impressed by how neat everything was and sat down, he went to finish his papers. He stopped when he saw a letter he had never seen before. He grabbed it and ripped it open, it was for him from Dust.

“Sorry I don’t talk that much, I have a lot running through my head but I appreciate you for taking me in. I know you’ll send me back soon because of how dangerous I am but your efforts didn’t go unnoticed. I will clean everything in the house as a thank you and I’ll be waiting for you to send me back”  
-From Sans

Nightmare felt awful reading the letter. Yes, he was scary but that didn’t mean he couldn’t change. He didn’t even want Dust to change, he saw so much potential in him. He knew what it felt like to be thrown away and forgotten, he understood people fearing him. Though being scared of Dust may be justified it didn’t stop the fact that he deserves a good support system. He just needed to open up and he wasn’t comfortable with it yet. He went to Dust's room and knocked on the door. He called out his name but got no response, he opened the door to see Dust curled up on his bed.

“Dust… Hey,” He didn’t respond so he went up to him and shook his body. 

“Are we leaving yet..?”

“You’re not going anywhere, not on my watch at least.”

“You’re scared of me and want me gone..”

“Did Papyrus say that? Because if so that is not true at all, in fact, I like having you around.” Nightmare said as Dust turned to face him, he quickly looked away not wanting to be lied to. Nightmare was able to detect what was going through Dust’s head and was determined to change his mind. 

“I understand you’re having a hard time and I don’t blame you, but I want to make you as comfortable as I can. So let me reassure you, I will never send you back no matter what and I mean it when I say that.” Dust listened and smiled to Nightmare before he sat up.

“I think I know what we can do,” Dust said as Nightmare looked up to him hopeful.

“We’ll go hiking as Horror suggested earlier.”

“That’s not a bad idea Dust, let's go get the others then.” Nightmare said as they walked out to get Killer and Horror.

“We're going hiking! Yes, let's goooo!” Killer screamed happily as Horror packed a backpack with snacks and water. Nightmare already knew where they would go and he peered over to Dust who tried to not smile. He saw the nervousness in his movements as he was fiddling with his hands. A tentacle stretched out to him and Dust slowly reached out for it and toyed with the tentacle as they finished packing. 

"Alright let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A hike sounds nice huh? I'm sure nothing will go wrong....
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	5. Hiking trail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nightmare needs to do more research on hiking trails...

Nightmare teleported them to a hiking trail and he grabbed the map of it he had printed out prior to leaving. He made sure to pick one that had a waterfall at the end of the trail. They all went to walk around and Dust couldn’t help but smile seeing all the colorful plants. Horror saw a bush full of lovely pink flowers and grabbed some, Killer went and saw some blue ones and got some as well. They put it together and made a boutique and handed it to Dust.

“What is this for?”

“We thought it was nice so we got some for you.” Horror said happily as Killer nodded his head in agreement. 

Dust started laughing and thanked them, they lit up and went to grab more.

“Yeah don’t mind those two, they do stuff like this a lot,” Nightmare said as Dust shrugged. It was a nice gesture and he was willing to take it, they didn’t seem as scared of him now thank god. Though he would’ve enjoyed terrorizing Killer some more, he didn't like how confident he was. He was sure he could do something later on to scare him.

“The flowers smell nice…” He offered it to Nightmare who took a quick sniff, he agreed that they smelled nice. The weather was very nice and was quite relaxing. Dust was amazed by how colorful everything was and couldn't help but smile at the sight. They walked for another twenty minutes until they heard a loud noise. Horror was screaming and came running to Nightmare and Dust. Was he crying???

“Woah Horror what happened where is Killer?” Nightmare said as Horror took a deep breath.

“There's a snake!”

“That's it?”

“What do you mean that's it, it's a snake!” Horror saw how unamused the others were before to facepalm himself and leaned forward a bit. 

“...and Killer climbed up in a tree and refused to get down because the snake tried to bite him..” Huh, so he is afraid of snakes? Dust thought to himself as they followed Horror to the tree. 

They only understood the gravity of the situation as a giant anaconda slithering its way up to Killer who pointed his knife at it. He was waving his knife back and forth menacingly at the snake, he was too afraid to do anything. 

“WHERE ARE WE? THIS WAS NOT THE PLACE TO GO HIKING!” Dust screamed as he backed away.

“THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE THAT HAD NO MONSTERS… IT LOOKED NICE IN PICTURES!! Nightmare hollered back in a panic, he looked around and grabbed a huge rock. He aimed it right for the head and launched it straight to its head. But he missed..? 

“Someone get me off of here!” Killer screamed as he felt the branch breaking from his weight.

"HOW DID YOU MISS???" Horror screamed as he took another step back in panic.

"How did I miss?” The large snake noticed the others and went back down, it made its way to Horror who ran and threw himself on Nightmare. Dust summoned a bone and went in front of the two and raised his weapon to it. The snake hissed and lunged forward, it was stabbed instantly by Dust who was screaming his lungs out. The snake continued to move as Horror stepped in to help Dust push it back. Nightmare joined in and the three of the threw the snake to the ground, it tried to get up but Dust instantly stabbed it again as it flinched. 

The snake stopped moving after a moment or so and Killer finally felt safe enough to come down. He ran to Dust and hugged him hard, he just patted his back and waited for him to get off.

“Thank you so much, man I can’t believe you just stabbed the thing… I could really learn a lot from you,’ Killer said as Dust felt himself smile at the last bit.

"I...I never wanna do this again." Horror admitted and went to grab a snack he packed. Nightmare looked at the snake and he wondered if you were able to make something with the snake meat... He shook his head knowing that there were other animals in the area that could use the meal. 

"I agree, this was... not the best idea," Nightmare stated as everyone nodded their heads in agreement. 

“Welp I’m all hiked out so anyone wants to go get some ice cream?” Nightmare offered wanting to get away from his place as fast as possible. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Fucking hate snakes… the way they have no arms or legs, they just… slither.” Killer said as they left the ice cream shop. 

‘Yeah I think next time we should just hit up a human-only spot,” Horror chimed in as the other quickly agreed. Dust stayed quiet for a second before he spoke.

“I know I have a bad habit and I promise I will try and not kill every monster I see… Only when Nightmare gives the command to.”

Everyone smiled at Dust and were relishing this moment, Nightmare just patted Dust on the shoulder and couldn’t believe his quick progress. Though they still had a lot to work on he knew deep inside Dust was never going to feel the need to kill like this again, he would make sure of it.

"Also I feel like if we were not as panicked we could've killed that thing quickly," Dust added as everyone shrugged.

"It's a snake alright? I hate them and they hate me," Killer continued on as everyone rolled their eyes at him. Dust still couldn't believe he was scared of snakes. He was never going to forget that about Killer, he had some leverage now. 

"I have seen you destroy worlds and burn cities but you can't even stand up against a snake? Killer I'm disappointed," Nightmare teased. Killer got red-faced and looked away from everyone and ate his ice cream. They laughed at his shenanigans and ventured on home, exhausted from the day. Dust felt every warn around the gang and couldn't help but feel... accepted? He had never felt this way before and didn't even know how to describe it but he felt a different kind of love for once.

After a month or so of being with the group Dust was adjusting really well. ‘Papyrus’ had stopped talking to Dust after a while, at first, it hurt him a lot but with everyone else around he felt better. He had also been able to finally mourn his brother's death and was surrounded by love and care. He was happy to have such a loving group that cared for him even if he was difficult at times. Still, there were days he could do better without some of them...

“Killer.”

“Yes, Dust?” Killer said as he laid his whole body on the couch, Dust was trying to vacuum the couch. Killer made sure he laid where Dust couldn’t clean it.

“Move, I need to clean.” Killer shook his head and stretched his arms out.

“Sorry Dusty it’s my afternoon nap time.” He yawned and closed his eyes as Dust glared at him. He plugged the vacuum in and got the tube part out, it was thin and could clean small surfaces. He went to the couch and loomed above Killer who slept unaware. He put the tube right up to his teeth and turned it on, Killer's teeth pulled forward and he jumped in panic. He got up and slapped the tube out of his face and left to his room. 

Dust smirked in victory and continued to clean the couch undisturbed. Nightmare was in his office cleaning his office room, he was glad Dust gave him some good cleaning tips. He was glad Dust never left because if he weren’t here they’d be living in a pig stye still. He felt a decrease in negativity, he knew Dust would be happy about that. He stood up and loudly yelled throughout the castle.

“I need to do a mission, who's coming?” Everyone went to the office room to meet with Nightmare and Dust was excited as usual. He was the most excited whenever they went to a universe and he was able to let off some steam. He was always the first to run and attacks but he had been practicing patience, he would try and wait for Nightmare's command but some days it didn't pan out. They would even have a contest on who can cause the most negativity and almost every single time it was Dust who won their little contest. There were no points other than bragging rights which annoyed Killer since he used to be the one with the most negativity. It was nice to have some competition though as Horror only did what he felt needed to be done and was instantly tired afterward. Sometimes Nightmare would have to carry the big baby home so he could rest up.

“Hey Ink catch!” Killer threw a snowball directly at Inks face once he turned around.

“You’re just a joke Killer,” Ink said as he ran to him with his weapon, Dust was quick to intervene and step between the two. Horror came in from the back and slashed Ink from behind, he screamed and threw Horror back. 

“..C’mon Ink, don’t tire out on us yet.” Dust said as their weapons met, they wrestled for control until Killer pushed Ink back. 

“Why don’t we just throw snowballs at him? It’s not like we can kill him, might as well have fun.” Killer suggested as Dust rolled his eyes and got a snowball. He threw it at Killer and he shot one back, Horror face palmed himself and went to fight Ink. Actually being the one who was staying on task.

“Brother...what are they doing?”

“Dream stop trying to distract...me?” The twins turned to Ink and Horror fighting while Killer and Dust were throwing snowballs at each other. Dream snickered while Nightmare grabbed him with a tentacle and threw him at Ink. He picked up both of them and threw them into a portal to an Undertale universe. 

“Horror what are they doing?” Nightmare asked, annoyed as Horror felt himself shrink.

“They wanted to throw them at Ink but ended up hitting each other so now it's a snowball fight,” He answered as Nightmare sat down. He patted the seat next to him and the two watched as Killer and Dust fought with snow. 

“You suck Dust, I thought you were a killing machine.” Killer teased as Dust used his magic to get a lot more than Killer could handle. 

“I am a killing machine, just didn’t want to show it until now.” The snow toppled on top of Killer as he was buried in snow. Dust waited for a moment before he used his magic once again to get Killer out.

“No fair Dust, hands only!”

“I am using my hands, just in a different way.” Dust said smugly as Killer started laughing. 

“Alright this was fun but I think it's time to go home.” Nightmare interjected as the two went to him. Dust smiled as he was ready to go home and eat, he was especially happy that he thought of this place like home and these people as family. It made his cold soul feel warm for once as they went home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp that's it! I was deciding on whether I should do Killer or Cross next but I think I'm gonna go with Killer. The boy deserves so much, plus I think Cross's will be a bit lengthy. But I don't know yet so well see!
> 
> Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Sans is just playing with Nightmare I swear-  
> He still doesn't trust Nightmare but what else does he have to lose?
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
